Three police officers injured in blast in Russia's N. Caucasus -2

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ROSTOV-ON-DON, February 18 (RIA Novosti) - Three police officers were injured in a car explosion on Wednesday in the Sunzha District of the Russian North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia, a local police official said.

"A car containing three police officers was blown up in the center of the Troitskaya village at 08:45 a.m. Moscow time (05:45 GMT)," the official said.

He said the officers had been hospitalized and one of them was currently in a serious condition.

The scene has been cordoned off, police are looking into the incident, he said.

In a separate incident, another police officer was injured and hospitalized on Wednesday after a gunman opened fire at a police station near Nazran, the republic's largest city.

Ingushetia has seen a rise in violence, including bombings and other attacks on police and officials, which have been linked to separatists in neighboring Chechnya and local crime gangs.